Are Glanville's Vikings Just What Doctor Order for Cougs?

Don James, the former Washington Huskies football coach, once described himself as "a thousand-word underdog" to Jim Walden when the loquacious Walden coached Washington State.

Current WSU coach Paul Wulff might have to spot Jerry Glanville 5,000 words. Still, Wulff made himself perfectly clear when asked about the wholesale lineup changes he's made for today's game with the colorful Glanville's Portland State Vikings.

Asked what his players think about the changes, Wulff simply shrugged and said, "I don't really know. It's what we're doing. It's where we're going, and that's all that matters.

"We need to get better, and we need to find answers. As coaches, we've done a good job of implementing things, and they've (players have) responded in a lot of ways. Not all.

"It's going to be done the way we need to get it done," Wulff concluded. "We knew there were going to be adjustments along the way. We've said that from Day One. So, here we are."

"Here" is 0-3 with more points allowed (150) than any team in Pac-10 history after three games. A home game against an inexperienced Football Championship Subdivision (formerly NCAA Division I-AA) team like Portland State would appear to be fortunate timing for the Cougars.

"We've been smacked in the mouth pretty good the last three games," WSU senior Vaughn Lesuma said. "We're not going to look past anybody."

The Vikings, who list just three senior starters on each side of the ball, are 0-6 all-time against Pac-10 teams. None of those games were decided by less than 26 points.

Portland State does pose problems by operating Glanville's beloved 3-4 defense (most teams show 4-3 alignments) and the run-and-shoot offense. No one seems able to explain why "run" is part of the name, since run-and-shoot teams like the Vikings pass constantly, including plenty of short passes in place of running plays.

Wulff, summing up the challenge of defending so many passes, said, "It's not an easy thing to do. Anybody that does that, they take enough shots at it, they're going to have some big plays."

That can't be good news for a WSU team that has allowed six touchdowns of 58 yards or more. Wulff played under PSU offensive coordinator Mouse Davis (a former Vikings head coach) when Davis was head coach of New York-New Jersey in the old World Football League, so Wulff knows just how devastating the run-and-shoot can be when operating properly.

The 1-1 Vikings have thrown 141 passes and run the ball just 25 times (excluding four sacks). They rank second in the FCS in passing yards per game (397) and second to last in rushing (30.5).

That could spell good news for the Cougars, who rank 119th (last) in the Football Bowl Subdivision with 330.3 rushing yards allowed per game and 14th with 145.3 passing yards allowed. However, the Vikings mixed in 32 runs with 46 passes in a 27-19 upset of Wulff's Eastern Washington Eagles last season.

"That was probably our worst performance of the year," Wulff said.

Glanville upset Wulff by "joking around with our players" prior to the game. The 66-year-old Glanville and the 76-year-old Davis are close friends who love to have a good time, but Glanville says it's tough to yuck it up when his inexperienced players experience "a mental vapor lock" during games.

"The fun of football is winning," Glanville said. "You have no fun if you're not winning."

The Vikings are 4-9 in Glanville's two years at the helm. Portland State opened the season by downing Division II Western Oregon 31-14, then gave up 588 yards in a 38-24 loss to FCS rival UC Davis last week.

"We're waiting for the light to come on again," Glanville said. "Then we'll be good. I think Washington State is in a similar situation."

PSU: The Vikings love to throw short passes out of their run-and-shoot attack, and they figure to take aim at walk-on sophomore Myron Beck if the former safety is forced to start or play regularly after moving to weakside linebacker this week. Portland State's offense revolves around the passing game, but the Vikings might try their luck running the ball against the nation's worst run defense (330 rushing yards allowed per game). Glanville, 66, figures to have a few tricks up his sleeve, since he started coaching in college the same year Wulff was born (1967).

WSU: The Cougars' hurry-up, no-huddle offense could take its toll on a Portland State team that is young (10 true freshmen have played already), inexperienced and even more lacking in depth than WSU. Lopina appears to have recovered from the sprained wrist that knocked him out of the Baylor game last week, and that could mean a big day for Gibson against an unproven secondary. A Pac-10 team like WSU might be expected to look past a Big Sky team like Portland State, but that would not be wise for the Cougars. After all, they're giving up 50 points and 476 yards per game (7.5 per play) and are ranked 100th out of 119 teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision by CollegeFootballNews.com.